Prisoner's Base

Good Nero Wolfe, and a decent mystery. ( )

This is number 20 or about one-third of the way into the Nero Wolfe series. I enjoyed this book very much because of the personal involvement of Archie and Wolfe in the story. The book opens with Priscilla Eads showing up at Wolfe's house with a suitcase and hatbox saying she is going to be staying there for a week. Archie accepts her $350.00 knowing that Wolfe will more than likely invite her to leave. After dinner he does and Archie puts her in a taxi after returning her money. Two hours later she is found strangled and her maid is found to have been killed earlier in the evening.
Archie realizes that if he had not put her in the cab when he did she would not have been killed when she was and takes on the responsibility of finding her murderer. Wolfe decides to take on Archie as his client.
Priscilla Eads was going to become the owner of a large corporation at the end of her week at Wolfe's house. A double murder involving a prominent rich young woman prompts a massive police investigation which Archie joins. Wolfe, without consulting Archie, dips into the emergency fund to hire an investigator.
All I can say without being a spoiler is that the murder of the second victim is even more personal to Archie.
Because of her death the wealth which would have gone to Priscilla Eads will go to the top employees of Softdown corporation. The machinations of that part of the story introduce the reader to some truly unpleasant people. They participate in a meeting about her killing and several of them make some statements that are truly bizarre and though not relevant to who killed Ms. Eads are an interesting comment on the possibilities of the human personality. Ms. Eads feminist ideas are an interesting addition to the plans she had for Softdown.
Of course Wolfe knew who it was all along. In a grand finale with everyone present Wolfe names the murderer and he is apprehended. I thought this book was more about Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe than Priscilla Eads and the other women murdered. They both showed character and compassion in their response to the murder of people that were a small part of their lives.
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One of Stout's best. As always there are plot holes (the murderer couldn't possibly have achieved his goal), but who cares when Archie is on form.

Prisoner's Base, by Rex Stout, is yet another Nero Wolfe novel, published in 1952. Young heiress-to-be Priscilla Eads lands on Wolfe's doorstep, determined to stay at the famed detective's house for the next week, and ready to pay for the privilege. She doesn't give her name and doesn't give her reasons for this demand, however. Subsequently a lawyer appears and offers Wolfe first $5K and then $10,000 to discover the whereabouts of the young woman; but not knowing the young lady's name, Wolfe refuses the offer. He then has Archie turn the woman out of the house, and when she turns up dead the next day, Archie feels responsible and determines that he will look into the matter personally, with or without Nero Wolfe's help. As the death toll mounts, so too does Archie's determination, to the point where he willingly starts working with Inspector Cramer and Sergeant Purley Stebbins to find the murderer.... This story is quite complicated, with half a dozen red herrings that seem quite reasonable to pursue, and in the end, of course, it is not Archie but Nero Wolfe who provides the solution to the mystery. Entertaining as always, and recommended. ( )

Nero Wolfe novels are “comfort” reads for me. When I’m tired or just can’t figure out what I’m in the mood to read it has become my habit just to grab the next NW and settle down for a pleasant evening “with friends” without having to think too much. I enjoy the characters and the puzzles and I’m about even with Stout at figuring out the answer before Wolfe does. This is one where I didn’t. Stout played fair but the hints were not made as obvious as they sometimes are. This one has an unusual twist in that the person who becomes the client is a surprise. We also get to see a little of the “human” side of Wolfe’s lawyer, Nathaniel Parker. Recommended for fans of “classic” mysteries ( )